PARIS, April 20 (Reuters) - Local authorities in parts of France have introduced restrictions on irrigation of crops after dry weather has left water reserves below normal levels. Eight administrative departments have applied restrictions in at least one local area, and authorities in Charente-Maritime and Deux-Sevres in western France have set blanket limits across their departments, a statement from the French environment ministry on Wednesday showed.
France is in the midst of a warm, dry spell that has brought summer-style temperatures and left farmers fearing damage to crops in the European Union's top grain producer.
European wheat prices have surged near a two-month high this week, while dry conditions were forecast to continue in grain belts in France and also Germany and Britain.
The current dry spell has added to already low rainfall in much of France since last summer, and 58 percent of water tables were showing below-normal levels as of April 1, according to France's geological research office.
In Charente-Maritime and Deux-Sevres, the authorities have banned daytime irrigation throughout the departments, although this does not apply to fruit and vegetable farms.
Elsewhere, restrictions have been applied in local areas, notably a zone across part of three departments near Paris that lie above the Champigny water table, which has suffered from persistently low levels.
No restrictions have been placed on the use of water by households, although the authorities in Charente-Maritime and Deux-Sevres called on the "civic spirit" of the population to help limit water consumption.
(Reporting by Valerie Parent and Marion Douet; writing by Gus Trompiz, editing by Jane Baird)